


Entangled

by comeoncomeout



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, F/F, Fake Dating, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 00:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12829002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeoncomeout/pseuds/comeoncomeout
Summary: Before the curse is cast, Alice and Drizella find themselves in an arranged marriage plot when Hook and Lady Tremaine strike a deal to get Gothel back in her tower.After the curse, Ivy spins her own web to stop her mother once and for all. A fake relationship with Tilly? Well, that's the perfect distraction.And in Wonderland, a game of chess may be more than it seems.





	Entangled

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly canon compliant, but I took some liberties. I update once every blue moon, so don't be too hopeful. I do have at least ten chapters planned ;)

_It’s a great huge game of chess that’s being played—all over the world—if this is the world at all, you know._

Tilly stared at the chess board in front of her, her thumb and pointer finger toying with the white pawn at h2. Her vision was still slightly blurred from the pills she had swallowed down dry as Weaver was being wheeled through the emergency room doors. She tried to focus instead on the shining white of the hospital wing floors and winced at the bright light reflecting against them.  
  
She was grasping at straws, trying to hold on to a memory, the faint scent of lilies wrapping around her senses like a vine to take root and hold. But she felt it slowly drifting out of her reach, replaced with the smell of antiseptic.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched another detective approach her. She had the thought that she knew him once with salt and pepper in his beard, but that was impossible. The man before her was much too young without a hint of gray in his hair. After speaking with him for awhile and finishing a game of chess together, she wondered why she had such a peculiar notion in the first place. Even more so, she was perplexed as to why she felt they had played this same game before, many times over.  
  
Sometime during their second game, Detective Rogers looked over her shoulder after taking her white knight at g8 with his queen.  
  
He nodded behind her head and said, "Let me handle her."  
  
Victoria Belfrey snarled at the sight of them and paused her hurried footfalls, stopping to glare at Tilly and asked in condescension, "Shouldn't you be locked in a cell somewhere?"  
  
Rogers retorted, "Detective Weaver is going to make a full recovery and doesn't wish to press charges."  
  
Victoria didn't cast her gaze away from Tilly, "I'll have my eye on you."  
  
She turned and walked straight for Weaver's room. Tilly set her eyes back on the chess board, capturing Rogers' queen with her pawn at g8.  
  
Rogers raised his brow, "Two white queens. It seems the odds are against me."  
  
Tilly smirked, "You were distracted. That woman is a heartless old crone. Do you have to work with her often?"  
  
"It's a recent development, but sadly, yes."  
  
Tilly couldn't pinpoint why exactly, but she had the thought that Rogers working relationship with Victoria Belfrey wasn't such a recent development. For Rogers perhaps, but in a world that was seemingly right side up, not upside down like her life in Hyperion Heights, she had the faintest inclination that Rogers and Victoria had in fact, worked together many times before.  
  
_**Years Earlier...**_  
  
Alice sat at the windowsill of her tower. Her papa had been on a journey for days and had left with a promise to set her free from her prison. She jumped to her feet at the sight of him riding a white horse through the clearing. He smiled up at her tower, and she watched as a caravan of black horse drawn carriages pulled behind him.  
  
The driver parked the coach and armed guards rushed to open the carriage doors. A woman and a brunette girl about her age stepped out of the carriage and followed behind her father. They climbed the ladder of vines and branches her papa had built to reach her. He had grown much too old to climb any other way.  
  
Her papa enveloped her in his arms and introduced each intruder into their space which felt much smaller than it ever had before. Alice had never seen another woman, another person really besides her father, and suddenly she was face to face with two distinctly different and unfamiliar people.

Lady Tremaine turned up her nose and declared, "Well, she'll certainly need some finishing and new clothes. She hasn't uttered a word so her etiquette will need quite a lot of work. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised considering she was raised by the likes of you, Hook. It doesn't help that her mother is a witch. Do you have magic girl?"  
  
Alice quipped, "Perhaps we all have magic, my lady. There are simply those such as yourself who are too stupid to see what's on the inside. And my name is Alice."  
  
Drizella's eyes widened, and she looked to her mother as if she was waiting for her mother to curse Alice for her snide remarks, as if Alice wasn't cursed already.  
  
Hook grinned proudly and interjected, "I think the girls will get along just swimmingly. Do we have a deal then?"  
  
"Yes, Drizella will stay here with Alice until you return with the witch. If you hold up your end of the bargain, they will be married when they are both of age. Alice will have all of the comforts I promised."  
  
Alice and Drizella stared at one another in shock and bewilderment before simultaneously interjecting their protests which apparently fell on deaf ears. Lady Tremaine left the tower without another word. Hook followed shortly after kissing Alice's forehead in farewell and adding, "I'm going to make certain you are safe and free from this place, Alice.  
  
"Will you be back soon?"  
  
"As soon as I can, love."  
  
Alice watched him until he was out of view, slumping against the windowsill long after he had passed the clearing. After Drizella set about pacing around the room and inspecting every surface with a white gloved hand for several minutes, Alice finally asked, "Are you quite done yet? It's not like the place is all that large. You've been inspecting that box there for ages."  
  
Drizella simply ignored her and continued her tirade of the place until she stopped upon the chess board on the bookshelf.  
  
Alice ventured, "Do you play?"

Drizella seemed to find her voice, "I can't say I ever have."  
  
Alice debated her next move over in her head for a moment. They were clearly stuck together, possibly for a long while. At best her father wouldn't find her mother, she'd remain trapped in her tower, but she wouldn't have to marry Drizella or see her again. At worst her father _would_ find her mother, and she'd be free but trapped with Drizella for the rest of her life. She sincerely wondered if her father had her best interest at heart, or he had simply gone mad in his old age.  
  
She settled on accepting the worst case scenario and chalked it up to her utter desperation to see something besides the walls of her tower.  
  
When Drizella started to place the chessboard back in its spot on the book shelf, Alice slowly touched her hand to stop her.  
  
Drizella moved her hand abruptly and placed it behind her back. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks faintly red.  
  
Alice hurriedly interjected, "I could teach you. My papa and I play often. I warn you though, I always win."  
  
Alice set up the board and asked, "So? What do you say?"  
  
Drizella rolled her eyes, "Aren't you too old to play such silly little games?"  
  
"Isn't playing silly little games what keeps us from being old in the first place? Why ever would you want to be old? When we're older you'll be marrying me, so perhaps staying young is best for both of us, wouldn't you agree? Perhaps if we play this game long enough, we will never grow old at all."  
  
The other girl placed her pointer finger on the black knight and sighed, "I agree that you're an incredibly odd girl. So how do you play?"  
  


* * *

At precisely 9pm, Ivy walked into Roni’s bar as she had every night for the past week. Henry was already waiting with her glass of scotch on a paper napkin. She felt a sense of pride at her achievement in successfully reigning him in so easily. Now if only she could convince Roni she was trustworthy. That was complicating the uncomplicated _relationship_ she was developing with Henry more than she had anticipated.  
  
Ivy was always three moves ahead of her opponents, and she knew which subsequent moves to make with each of theirs. Roni was no exception. After all, she had learned from the mistakes of others, never wanting to risk making her own.  
  
She tapped Henry’s shoulder, and he beamed at her. She immediately pulled him to dance with her in the empty bar.  
  
“Hey, nice to see you too. To what do I owe the pleasure of this dance, my lady?”

Ivy smirked, “Ah, ever the chivalrous knight. I simply love this song.”  
  
Roni walked from the back office to the bar top and froze. Ivy winked over Henry’s shoulder and then whispered in his ear, “Your mother is watching.”  
  
Henry removed Ivy’s arms from around his neck and cleared his throat, “She’s not my mother. Let’s have that drink, and we can brief you on _your_ mother.”  
  
After receiving the stare down of a lifetime for what felt like a century Ivy finally asked, “So are either of you going to tell me what you’ve found on my mother?”  
  
Henry looked between both women and said, “You know, Ivy is trying to help us too. Why don’t you tell us how your search has gone so far? What have you found in the Belfrey Towers database. Any ideas about that strange delivery Victoria scheduled a few weeks ago?”  
  
Ivy knew of course, but she found it was always better to omit some parts of the truth. This wasn’t Henry’s story or Roni’s to snoop around in anyway.  
  
“As I told you, she rented a van, a large package was sent to the top floor. The only one who has access to that floor is my mother, and I don’t see us getting in there without her knowing.”  
  
Roni rolled her eyes, and Ivy continued, “But I do have access to the security cameras. It wouldn’t be so difficult to erase a portion of those tapes.”  
  
The bar door opened, and Detective Rogers walked over to the three of them. He faltered at Ivy’s presence and seemed to debate on speaking his mind openly. Henry placed his arm around Ivy’s shoulder when he saw her tense.  
  
“Detective Rogers, any news on your partner?”  
  
Rogers placed his hands in his pockets and balanced on the heels of his shoes, “He’s leaving the hospital tomorrow morning. Tilly’s with him now, so I thought I’d drop in and see how you two were doing with the, the uh,” he paused and dipped his head in question towards Ivy.  
  
Henry nodded, “Ivy’s a friend. She’s helping us bring down Victoria.”  
  
The detective seemed unsure and asked, “Going against your mother. You must have a death wish.”  
  
Ivy flashed her most charming smile, “Well it’s about time someone intervened to stop her from her plans of total domination. Who better than her daughter who knows her well?”  
  
Rogers hesitated before, “Jacinda is also her daughter and knows her well, and we trust Jacinda.”  
  
Of course Roni wouldn’t be the only one against Ivy’s rouse with Henry. She should have suspected as much, but the sight of the detective did give her another idea..  
  
“Yes, well Jacinda doesn’t work for my mother, and I do. You know who else works for my mother? Your partner. Detective Weaver is it? Perhaps we should pay him a visit before he leaves the hospital, send our well wishes for a speedy recovery. I also believe he can help us get to that top floor.”  
  
Rogers quirked his brow and nodded, “Okay, you can come with me then.”  
  
Henry stood up to follow and Rogers shook his head, “I don’t think so mate. We can go alone. Stay here with Roni in case Jacinda shows up, yeah?”

Ivy rolled her eyes as Henry wrapped her in a hug and told her he'd "catch her" later. He was so.. This may have been easier if he wasn’t so _friendly_.  
  


* * *

Ivy told herself that this was the right decision. She had to have Roni and Rogers on her side or at least have them believing she was on their side of things. And in the meantime, she’d be pissing off her mother which she always appreciated. She wouldn’t admit that part of her wanted to keep a closer eye on, _Tilly_ or Eloise, whatever name her mother had given Alice in this realm.  
  
Her mother hadn’t exactly kept quiet about Detective Weaver being shot or the “sewer rat” who had tried to murder him in cold blood in some sketchy neighborhood across town. It hadn’t taken much for Ivy to discover that Weaver’s informant who traded trinkets and gadgets from underneath the troll bridge was in fact _her_ Alice. Alice did always have an affinity for odd places and misplaced things.  
  
When they entered Weaver’s hospital room, Ivy noted the chess board on the table, no doubt belonging to _Tilly_. She reminded herself of the girl’s name here and shifted from one heeled toe to the other when the girl in questioned eyed her up and down.  
  
“What the bloody hell is she doing here?” Weaver asked and Tilly squinted her eyes as if seeing someone familiar from across a room.  
  
Rogers raised his hand and answered, “She’s, well she’s Henry’s friend. She says she wants to help us.” And then he briefed Weaver on the information they did have. That Victoria was hiding something and how he believed it related to his Eloise Gardner case.  
  
Ivy almost wanted to laugh. Each person in this altered reality was searching for what was right in front of them, not seeing what was beneath the surface of those desperations, an entire story forgotten on the other side of the looking glass.  
  
The sound of Weaver’s heart monitor reverberated in the quiet room after Rogers finished his endless ranting. He studied Ivy closely, and when his eyes cut to Tilly seated in the wheelchair in front of his bed, she knew. He was awake, and he knew. To con Rumpelstiltskin would be impossible, and it merely solidified her next move.

Ivy watched Tilly fidgeting with the white queen on her side of the chessboard when Weaver finally spoke, “If you want to get to the top of that tower dearie, all you need to do is climb the ladder.”  
  
She gritted her teeth at his vague response. She already knew how to get to the top floor, but he obviously enjoyed toying with her. Why that was, was to be determined, and she had the inclination that any actual information from him would come with a hefty prize. She decided against playing his little game. There were other ways of getting the information she needed that didn’t require his special expertise.  
  
“I didn’t come here to be mocked detective. I am on _your_ side. My mother needs to be stopped, and I’m the only one close enough to her to bring her down. If none of you want my help, then I’ll do it alone.” and then Ivy turned to walk out, halting with her hand against the frame of the door, “Oh, and get well soon."  
  
Of all the moves and countermoves, it was rare that her prospects would fall so easily into her path, but she wasn’t against welcoming them. With Alice though, it felt upside down. She felt her insides twisted like a vine thinking how if she stopped, if she didn’t run twice as fast from what was right in front of her, she would corrupt something that while always unorthodox, was the most uncorrupted part of her life before this curse brought them all here. So when Tilly rushed outside to stop her, calling out from behind her, she was confused as to which way to go.  
  
Tilly yelled at her back, “You have a funny way of showing you’re on our side. Did you ever think your need to push people away is the exact reason others find you untrustworthy?”

Ivy turned her head but kept walking as quickly as possible, “Did you ever consider I don’t _need_ anyone to trust me? I am perfectly fine on my own.”

Tilly laughed, “Clearly, you’re not. Let me take a wild guess. Spoiled rich girl with mommy issues? Your mother spent more time working, so you were raised by nannies. Mommy didn’t have time to go to your piano recitals?”

That stopped her, “Listen here, _you_ don’t know anything about _my_ life or who _I_ am, so don’t try to tell me my own sob story. I could guess yours from a mile away. And it was ballet, not piano.”  
  
“And what is my story then since you’re so smart?”

Ivy merely turned and started to walk away, calling out behind her, “It’s not worth it. I’m done playing nice.”

Tilly shouted back, “You call that playing nice?”

* * *

  
  
Ivy ascended the stairs of the Belfrey estate and headed straight for her bedroom. Her mother was waiting for her there, seated at her vanity and looking into her full length mirror.  
  
Victoria showed her obvious disapproval at Ivy’s windswept hair and wrinkled clothes. She had fidgeted with her skirt and sweater the entire walk home and wasn’t surprised to appear off-kilter when she felt so off-balance after seeing Alice for the first time in Hyperion Heights. She supposed she should have been prepared for it. She knew Alice would be there, but it didn't stop the thundering beat of her heart against her ribcage or the anxiousness in her gut.

When her mother asked, “Where have you been going every night this week?” she held her head high and answered, “With my girlfriend.”

Victoria blanched and then scoffed, “Girlfriend? That’s not funny, Ivy. I almost believed you for a moment.”  
  
Ivy smirked, “Well believe it, mother. I have a girlfriend, but don’t worry. I’m not asking for your permission or your approval.”  
  
“Who is she? You can tell me, or I can hire a private investigator.”

“I believe you know her actually. _Wonderful_ girl. Her name is Tilly. She works closely with your detective friend.”  
  
If Victoria blanched before, she popped a blood vessel when she yelled, “THAT SEWER RAT? She should be locked up for attempted murder, not to mention she broke into my car and started spitting some nonsense about god knows what. That girl is deranged. That girl is no good for you, no. I refuse to allow it.”  
  
Hook, line, and sinker, Ivy had hit her mark. Her mother would be paying so much attention to her new girlfriend, she wouldn’t notice what Ivy would be scheming right under her own nose. Tilly wouldn’t even have to know about their supposed love affair, and she could let Victoria play the pieces for her. She was already doing enough to keep Jacinda and Henry apart without even knowing, and Ivy could play that to her favor without the need to play at seducing Henry any longer.  
  
Ivy crossed her arms and reiterated, “As I said mother, I don’t need your blessing.”  
  


* * *

The next morning Ivy exited her private car and sent a quick text to Henry that, no, she would not be at Roni’s that night. She was busy, and she knew her mother would be out of the office most of the day and night dealing with her little “problem." And then Tilly was walking towards her, and her mother was exiting her own private car. She had a split second to make a decision, but her mother had seen Tilly. She was left with no other option, she walked passed her mother and wrapped Tilly in a hug, whispering in her ear, “Please just play along.”  
  
Surprisingly the other girl didn’t protest but held on even tighter and lifted her in the air. They held eye contact as Tilly bite her lip and brought Ivy's feet back to the pavement. For a moment Ivy thought she felt a genuine tug at her heart, but she knew that was impossible.

Victoria’s heels clicked against the pavement and the doorman held the door open for her to enter Belfrey Tower. When she was behind the closed doors, Tilly moved her arms from around Ivy’s waist to rest at her sides.  
  
“I didn’t take you for the touchy feely type, but I’m not one to protest. Your mommy seemed displeased to see us together, so I suppose I shouldn’t be too flattered.”

Ivy shrugged her shoulders, “You could be. I did tell her that you're my girlfriend.”  
  
Tilly gaped, “You what? I don’t even know you, remember? You made that pretty clear last night, don’t you think?”

“She wanted to know where I was, and I was just so mad. I’m tired of being her pawn, and I want to show her she can’t control me. Look, I understand if you don’t want to fake this, but what I said last night, I was wrong about one thing. I can’t do this alone. Will you help me? At least with this. I need her distracted, so I can find out what she’s up to, and I can’t do that if she’s always here.”

Tilly shook her head, “You're absolutely mad.”

* * *

_**Through the Looking Glass**_

Alice entered the Tremaine estate from Drizella’s bedroom window, the same window she had climbed through many times. In the mirror she saw the reflection of the white and red chess board table in the middle of the room that she had brought back from Wonderland for Drizella for her birthday a few months ago. She walked through the looking glass and before her was a human sized white and red chess board identical to the table in Drizella’s room except here the pieces were alive.

Lady Tremaine wore an elaborate red crown atop her head and greeted her with an overly warm smile, “Alice my dear, wonderful for you to join us. Drizella and I were discussing our chess game. I have just secured Henry as my red knight, and Hook will be her white knight. Now, we have one spot open for you, dear.”  
  
Alice was to take the spot of a white pawn and Drizella added, “Anastastia would have taken that spot, but mother has a deal for you. She says you are to be the other white queen if you reach the other side of the board. That sounds lovely, don’t you agree?”  
  
From her spot, Alice couldn’t see all of the other pieces on the red side of the board, in particular the Red King seemed to be hunched over in his spot. She stood along several foot soldiers she had met before in the Enchanted Forest. She noticed as well that at least on her side of the board she had Regina as a white rook and Cinderella and Tiana as the White King’s bishops. She noticed the hole through the heart of the White King and the vines that wrapped around his body but remained unfazed.  
  
In looking glass world, she knew how upside down everything would be, as it had been each time she had been here. Yet to Alice, this world was right side up. A realm where her future mother-in-law felt she had all of the control but was scarcely mistaken. Her father was her white knight and protector again like when she was a child. Yes, this world was how it should be.

She had taught Drizella chess, and they thought it was only fitting to finish all of the silly little games with this one, the one that would bring her mother to checkmate. When Alice took the finally place on the board, glass chess pieces rose up, lifting all of the players along with them. One white pawn made the mistake of stepping forward off of his matching piece onto the square in front of him and was crushed when the glass pawn took his spot at b3.  
  
Alice hopped backwards off of the board and walked around the large chess set to help Drizella from her queen. The other players looked puzzled for a moment at what was happening until Lady Tremaine quipped, "You expect us to stand around like chess pieces all day? Don't be absurd. Your pieces will move on their own. It is his dream after all."  
  
Lady Tremaine pointed at the Red King which Alice now saw was Rumple, hunched over on his throne in sleep. Each of the other players followed Alice's wordless instructions to leave the board.  
  
After helping the white queen from her piece, Alice slowly brought Drizella's feet to solid ground. Drizella kissed Alice's cheek and whispered, "If you wish to move two spots, I believe you have a train to catch, my love."  
  



End file.
